Since I'm posting this in the Hunting and Fishing thread I don't feel I need to tell you it's graphic. The end result is something we've all seen in person.

I'm on the fence here. I think the guy was a little impatient, and that probably contributed to what happened. But I don't know the scenario or situation. This 2-minute video doesn't tell the entire story. I have no problem with the end result, as unfortunate as it might be. I have always been more concerned with jumping a moose than a grizzly bear in Montana's backcountry. Moose are dangerous. We've encountered both and both times the animal turned and just walked away. Nothing like this.

Food for thought while out in Colorado. We do have a sizable moose population. Give wildlife the room it needs. The guy did some things correct, but the creeping forward and pushing the moose was no doubt harrasment. Moose rarely leave a trail like that because its easy walking. You can see how deep the snow is off the trail. They'll walk the train tracks in Alaska and just stand there and get hit when a train comes. Not the smartest animal in the Kingdom.

This thread/video may have been better served in the Chat section but I didn't want to offend anyone.

You know the saying if all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail? I think that applies in this video in a big way.

He moved closer than he probably would have if the gun wasn't on his hip.
After the moose charged it retreated and that's when he shot it. At that point he wasn't in any danger. I would have moved back and given the moose a chance to move out on its own.

We've encountered a lot of moose backpacking in northern Idaho. Woke up one time with a moose face right in our tent! They are big, they can be dangerous, but a little common sense can keep everyone alive.

For the record, I am from boulder but am also a gun owner, so that's not my issue here! Ha!

I am about as pro-gun as it gets, and I think this guy is an idiot. In my opinion he forced a situation that didn't need to happen.
He is also got lucky when the moose dropped. There was a good chance that the Glock would have just pissed off the moose. Most pistol calibers have no where near the power needed to drop an adult moose. Usually the right tool for protection in moose country is pepper spray and/a big bore rifle. I usually carry a Marlin 1895gs 45/70 in moose country as a last resort.

I agree he was impatient (and trigger happy). Things happen more slowly with wildlife. It could have been avoided. He should have at least finished him off after he decided to shoot it.

There was a similar video with a similar charging moose on the news the other week without a gun involved. I believe it was a different instance though. Moose must like to use those trails creating more conflicts with snowmobiles.

He came up on it quickly, it was not aggressive initially, it charged and gave him plenty of warning and opportunity to retreat. To the moose the guy on the snowmobile was a predator and he did exactly what his instinct told him to do.

The guy had no justification for shooting the animal. He wasn't even a particularly bad tempered moose and probably suffered while it died.

You see similar stuff all the time on Front Range trails, people coming up on rattlesnakes and poking them with sticks trying to get them to move and then they're shocked when they get bit. You have encroached on them, you need to back off and go around. Plus they don't know that humans made the trails for recreation, they just see ideal places to walk and sun themselves.

I agree with all you guys. The number one rule for moose encounter in the backcountry is to give the animal a clear escape route. Not only was the snow deep off trail, the moose appeared to be quite fatigued. Maybe it had been struggling in the deep snow prior to making the trail? In any case, they were only a hundred yards or so (or so I gathered from the video) from the clearing.

I also am a proud, concealed carry permit wielding, life member of the NRA. But I think that not only is this guy a moron, he, because of an apparent over willingness to use his weapon (my opinion), is representative of all the trouble that some gun users are too willing bring upon the lot of us. My

__________________
Rob
TLCA #22710
2010 FJC - "Wasabi Wagon"

"A society who's moral ideals prohibit it's own defense, is a society doomed to be destroyed by those very forces it deems immoral" - Marion "Doc" Ford (Randy Wayne White)

What a dick! Not only was it unjustified, he didn't even put it out of his misery

No telling what happened after the video ended. Story goes that this was somewhere in Wyoming and WY Game and Fish was very interested in finding this guy. I assume with charges pending.

After watching this video a few more times, there is really very little the guy does right. The incessant creeping forward and engine revving is not the way to handle a moose encounter. He just plain pushed too far. The last push forward as the moose is turning away is what caused the final encounter. Thats when he draws his sidearm and that moose was turning to give him another couple high five's.

I guess I feel bad for the stupid moose and the idiot guy who shot it.

One, the guy apparently didn't have any training as to what to do if he encountered a moose and really made a lot of mistakes in handling the situation. Two, because he probably wasn't trained in how to handle the situation, it escalated and went bad quickly, and as many have stated above, Moose are some dumb animals and can be one of the most dangerous around humans.

Add one and two together with a seemingly agressive moose, and the end result happened.

Just from watching this, I personally know how to better handle this type of encounter.

I was admittedly ignorant and I might have responded the same way as the shooter if my adrenaline was pumping, although I think I would have backed up.

I would hope to not have to kill any animal without justification or need of food, but having an 800 pound animal with the I.Q. of a Frog paw me to death would probably stir me to send some lead it's way before something happened bad as well. I think the moose was going to take action on the guy because he had provoked it to that point and there was no turning back.